An excerpt from Chapter 18 of Margery Kempe’s 15th century autobiography, “The Book Of Margery Kempe.”

British Library

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British Library

For centuries, scholars only had one version of the life of Margery Kempe, an English mystic who lived in the 14th and 15th centuries — until a ping pong match revealed her story in her own words.

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This episode was produced by Sara Zarreh Hoshyari Khah and Noah Caldwell. It was edited by Jasmin Baoumy and Ashley Brown. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.